This image, we called The Fury, took top spot in the Professional Photographer’s of Canada (PPOC) National Print Competition In Niagara Falls this weekend. Even though that is not the best news for this image, you can imagine how thrilled I am. Especially since I was a speaker at the event giving two enthusiastically attended programs.

The print and the programs triggered an invitation to speak in Paris, Denmark and Holland. Very cool I thought, but as thrilled as I am about that, it is still not the best news about the Fury print. Although I will be following up on the idea of teaching in Europe, Jan would love the vacation too.

The really cool news is what the response was with women who saw it before it went off to competition. The process of transforming an image into the fury style is startling. It destroys the background, recreates the color palette of the image along with the color range of the woman then adds the look of flames and energy.

It resonated so much with each of the women that viewed it that they requested incorporating the effect into their images. Suzie told me the transformation of the image, of the woman in the image, was so powerful that it became a personal reflection of her own journey and change.

As I thought about that it occurred to me that the process that transforms each image is indeed a reflection of a woman transforming into a powerful version of herself, which is so exciting.

Like real life we can’t just put the image through the process in its natural state. It has to be adjusted, prepped, altered in unusual ways.

Then she goes through the transformation, but at the end of the transformation, it is ready for the needed final refinements that make it unique to the character of the image. It is startling, stunning.

One of the photographers who applauded The Fury’s win told me the image spoke to her about her own journey and transformation.

That is the big news; not just that the print but the process the image goes through becomes an inspiration to the viewer. Images need to be more that pretty snapshots of a moment of passing time. There is a need to speak to the soul of a person; to their story and journey; even to people who don’t know the backstory.

As I write this blog the Salon Chair is reading it over my shoulder. She told me that was what the judges saw, they got the heart of the image. They talked about it for some time when it came up, all very excited.